The Highland McDonald’s, located at 105 Suppiger Lane, will be celebrating its grand re-opening, starting Saturday, Nov. 11. The location just got through with a drastic remodel. To celebrate, it will be providing daily buy-one-get-one-free specials for Nov. 13-19. There will also chances for patrons to win free food each week for a year and drawings to win special prizes. Ronald McDonald will even make an in-person appearance. Megan Braambraa@bnd.com

The Highland McDonald’s, located at 105 Suppiger Lane, will be celebrating its grand re-opening, starting Saturday, Nov. 11. The location just got through with a drastic remodel. To celebrate, it will be providing daily buy-one-get-one-free specials for Nov. 13-19. There will also chances for patrons to win free food each week for a year and drawings to win special prizes. Ronald McDonald will even make an in-person appearance. Megan Braambraa@bnd.com

The Tibbetts House: Bed, Breakfast and Books has started selling Looney Lab games.

Right now the shop has six different games in stock: Fluxx, Math Fluxx, Drinking Fluxx, Just Desserts, Pyramid Arcade, and Treehouse Pyramids.

Owner Brett Casto said that all of the Fluxx games are family friendly that all start with two basic rules: draw one, play one. Every card played after the game begins changes the game in some way, whether it is how many cards are drawn, played, held, or even the overall goal. Some goals are as easy as being the player who has the “Milk and Cookies” cards in front of them. Some goals are a little more complex. Each Fluxx pack provides some more variety with different themes, goals and methods to win.

Casto said the Pyramid games are a lot of fun and educational for kids. In a sense, he said they are traditional board games, even though most of the game does not require a board. Casto said buying a Pyramid box set doesn’t give you access to just one game. The largest Pyramid set they sell has pieces for 22 games and players can access the Icehouse Games website to find hundreds more. The least expensive Pyramid set sold at Tibbetts will get the owner about three games with around 20 on the website. Casto said that Pyramid games have a whole history and family built up around them by fans.

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“It’s pretty cool. And you can always just invent your own games with the pieces as well,” Casto said.

The final game they have in stock is Just Desserts, Casto said he has not played yet, but it looks really fun.

“You play the role of a waiter or waitress serving up desserts that your guests want. It’s a race to feed as many faces as you can before your opponents do. It’s another game that kids and adults alike will love. I know I’m looking forward to playing it,” Casto said.

Casto has six regular Fluxx games, six Math Fluxx, two Drinking Fluxx, and six Just Desserts. There is also one Pyramid Arcade set and four Treehouse Pyramid sets. Casto said come and get a game while supplies last.

Food

Highland McDonald’s completes renovations

The Highland McDonald’s will be celebrating its grand re-opening, starting Saturday, Nov. 11.

The location just got through with a drastic remodel. To celebrate, it will be providing daily buy-one-get-one-free specials for Nov. 13-19. There will also chances for patrons to win free food each week for a year and drawings to win special prizes. Ronald McDonald will even make an in-person appearance.

McDonald’s events on Nov. 11 are:

▪ Starting at 10 a.m., the first 50 drive-thru and dining room customers will receive a card for a free Big Mac each week for a year.

▪ There will be a 2 p.m. drawing for a child’s bike.

▪ Starting at 5 p.m., the first 100 drive-thru and dining room customers will receive a card for a free large Coke each week for a year.

▪ There will be a drawing at 7 p.m. for a pair of Beats headphones.

McDonald’s events on Sunday, Nov. 12 are:

▪ Starting at 6 a.m. the first 50 drive-thru and and dining room customers will receive a card for a free Egg McMuffin each week for a year.

McDonald’s events on Saturday Nov. 18 are as follows:

▪ At 11:30 a.m., Ronald McDonald will be on premise.

▪ There will be another bike drawing at 1 p.m.

Jobs

SWIC to host Job Fair

If you are looking for a new job or just want to explore your employment possibilities, it is time for you to attend the Fall Job Fair at Southwestern Illinois College.

The fair runs Thursday, Nov. 9 from 9 a.m. to noon in the Belleville Campus Varsity Gym, 2500 Carlyle Ave. All job seekers are welcome and should arrive dressed to impress with plenty of copies of their resumes. The job fair is open to the public.

Certain companies and service organizations will be focused on opportunities for veterans.

More than 100 employers representing a variety of career fields are expected to attend the fair sponsored by SWIC Career Services and Illinois Department of Employment Security. Represented career fields include education, nonprofit, financial services, manufacturing, security, health care, law enforcement, retail sales and more.

There is no pre-registration required for this job fair.

For more information, call Career Services at 618-235-2700, ext. 5562, or toll free in Illinois at 866-942-SWIC (7942), ext. 5562 or visit swic.edu.

Local unemployment rates continue to fall

Unemployment rates decreased over-the-year in September in Madison County. The local rate fell 1.4 percent, from 5.8 to 4.4, according to preliminary data released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Unemployment in St. Clair County fell 1.4 percent over the same time period, from 6.1 to 4.7 percent.

Unemployment rates decreased over-the-year in all of Illinois’s metropolitan areas and in all 102 counties

Data also show non-farm jobs increased in six of the metropolitan areas and decreased in eight.

“Seeing the rates drop across the board in all 102 counties is certainly encouraging,” said IDES Director Jeff Mays. “But the job growth in the Chicago metro area, while it has carried the state during this past year, still lags behind the growth in neighboring states.”

The September 2017 unemployment rate for the Illinois Section of the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area was 4.3 percent, a decrease of -1.4 percent from the September 2016 rate of 5.7 percent. The data is not seasonally adjusted.

The number of employed individuals in the metro-east decreased by 1,071 to 324,471 in September 2017 from 325,542 in September 2016. The labor force decreased by 5,901 to 339,193 in September 2017 from 345,094 in September 2016. In September 2017, there were 14,722unemployed people in the labor force. This is a decrease of 4,830 compared to the September 2016 total unemployed, 19,552.

Over the year, nonfarm payrolls in the metro-east increased by 1,300. Employment increased in transportation, warehousing and utilities (500), mining and construction (400), retail trade (400), manufacturing (100), wholesale trade (100), and leisure and hospitality (100) in September 2017 compared to September 2016.

Decreases in employment over the year included educational and health services (200), and financial activities (100).

Information, professional and business services, other services and government remained stable, with no change in employment over the year.

Area employers advertised for 5,800 openings in September and approximately 78 percent sought full-time employment, according to Help Wanted OnLine data compiled by the Conference Board. It is a global, independent business membership and research association. Employers actually need more workers than the help wanted ad indicates because some industries, such as construction, typically do not advertise job openings.

Public Works

Ground broken on Troy water system improvements

Gonzalez Companies, in association with the contractor for the plant improvements, L. Keeley Construction, and the contractor for the tank and booster station, Korte Luitjohan Contractors, hosted a ground-breaking ceremony for the start of the construction for the city of Troy’s water improvements projects. The approximately $9 million of improvement projects will address the future water needs of the city.

Gonzalez Companies provided engineering services for the redesign of the city’s water treatment plant, including new high-capacity water filtration equipment, filter backwashing facility modifications, a new 500,000-gallon clearwell/water storage tank, electrical and instrumentation upgrades, design of a high-service pump station, site security, and site improvements.

In conjunction with the plant upgrades, a new 16-inch water distribution main, a new 2 million-gallon concrete ground storage tank and booster pump station will provide improved ware flow and pressure to the city.